"nbc bay area news" in the midday hour at 11:00. make sure you have a great day, folks. >> and a great weekend, too. see you back here on monday morning. good good morning, doubling down, jussie smollett returns to the set of "empire" and reportedly tells the cast to believe him, but police tell a stunning different story, that the actor faked his own assault. >> to stage a hate crime of that nature when he knew as a celebrity it would get a lot of attention is just despicable. >> this morning new details on how the alleged hoax came together and quickly unraveled. stone cold silence, the judge imposes a strict gag order on president trump's confidant roger stone after he posted an inflammatory picture of the judge online. this morning their heated courtroom showdown as washington

waits anxiously for the robert mueller russia report to drop. we're live on capitol hill. ballot chaos, a new election is ordered in that undecided congressional race in north carolina. allegations of tampering and fraud still surrounding the election nearly four months after voters went to the polls. those stories, plus documentary drama, michael jackson's estate filing a $100 million lawsuit to stop hbo from airing its controversial film, but the network says the show goes on. if the shoe rips. >> his shoe blew apart. >> nike feeling the impact of sneaker gate in that freak injury to the biggest star in college basketball. this morning why it's leading to new calls to pay top college athletes. and red carpet ready, hollywood gears up for its biggest night of the year, this weekend's oscar's. how this year's show could look much different, today, friday, february 22nd, 2019. >> announcer: from nbc news,

this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and good morning, everybody. welcome to "today" on this friday morning. thank you so much for joining us. >> looky who's back. how are you feeling? >> good. so much better watching the show from here than from my death bed. >> i'm glad, i've got a vat of purell. i'll plunge in periodically. >> everybody's keeping a distance from me. >> happy you're back. >> thank you. let's get right to our top story. jussie smollett apparently getting right back to work still facing a mountain of legal trouble and public outrage in the wake of his stunning arrest. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer. he's in chicago. good morning. >> reporter: when jussie smollett surrendered to police yesterday he didn't say a word to investigators. he also wasn't talking to reporters after being released

from a nearby jail facility. this morning a new look for jussie smollett, this mug shot a different kind of head shot than the actor is used to. on thursday he was swarmed by a crush of cameras after chicago's top cop blasted the 36-year-old. >> when we discovered the actual motive, quite frankly it pissed everybody off. >> the superintendent says smollett was seeking publicity and was upset with his salary from "empire" when he cooked up a con to generate headlines. investigators say after this fake death threat he mailed to himself didn't work, he paid ola and abel osundairo $3,500 to stage a hate crime, also giving them cash to buy supplies for the bogus assault. detectives say smollett directed the brothers in detail, when, how and where to carry out the scam, which smollett had hoped would be caught on camera. police say the fake attack wasn't, but investigators were carefully watching this

interview with abc. >> it feels like if i had said it was a muslim or a mexican or someone black, i feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot much more. >> reporter: during his bond hearing thursday, smollett appeared visibly frustrated. the actor's legal team writing in part, today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the american legal system. the presumption of innocence a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of mr. smollett. >> what is justice in your eyes? >> absolute justice would be an apology to this city that he smeared. >> reporter: after smollett suggested his racist, homophobic attackers were supporters of donald trump, the president fired off on twitter, what about maga and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments.

♪ i just want you to look at me ♪ >> reporter: now today, the dramatic plot twist involving the actor, the alleged victim becoming the suspected criminal. >> and miguel, as you mentioned, there are reports that smollett returned to the set of "empire" after he posted bail. what do you know about that? >> reporter: we know that cameras caught judgment being driven to a lot were "empire" is shot. fox says it is reviewing situation. savannah? >> miguel almaguer on the story, thank you. now to the waiting game in washington d.c., the white house, lawmakers and the president's legal team bracing for the results of robert mueller's investigation. >> nice to see you, glad you're back. by all indications robert mueller -- excuse me. is wrapping up the russia investigation meaning he could deliver his final report to the

attorney general within days, but it does not mean those investigations come to a halt with a federal judge now cracking down on one of the president's long-time advisers. >> reporter: roger stone, one of robert mueller's most outspoken cr critics this morning, silenced after federal judge amy berman jackson gave him an earful, jackson banning stone from speaking publicly about his case after stone posted a picture on instagram showing the judge with a target next to her face. nbc news is not showing the image. stone apologizing for my own stupidity calling the now deleted post a momentary lapse of judgment adding, i honestly didn't believe they were cross hairs and i took it down because i recognized it could have been misinterpreted. jackson not buying it telling him the apology rings quite hollow and reprimanding stone. i have serious doubts on whether you learned any lesson at all. the judge stopping short of sending stone to jail, instead slapping him with a gag order. no public statements about the

case period. that move marking an abrupt halt to stone's running commentary about his indictment accused of lying to congress and witness tampering, charges he denies. >> they beat me up pretty good. i think the way was treated on thursday is extraordinary. they want to silence me because i will stand up for donald trump. >> reporter: jackson punctuating her punishment with stern warning, i gave you a second chance. this is not baseball. you don't get a third chance. >> mr. cohen. >> meanwhile, the president's former personal lawyer michael cohen ignored questions after meeting privately with his legal team on capitol hill. cohen will be in the hot seat for much of next week, a three-day marathon testifying publicly and privately before house and senate committees. the focus, his work for the president including those hush money payments made to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal during the 2016 campaign. >> roger stone, the judge is still allowing stone to raise money on social media for his legal defense and maintain his

innocence publicly, but she warned him if he tests her again, quote, i will be forced to change your surroundings making it pretty clear that he could be hauled off to jail. >> you talked about a couple of big headlines. maybe the biggest one is when is that mueller report coming out? >> it's a good question. severyn -- everyone is waiting for it right now. by all indications the president's going to see this, we're going to see this in some form at some time, at least the attorney general. he's the one who gets it first, and then we wait. do we see it? we don't know. by all indications the president's lawyer said they haven't had any conversations with the special counsel's team in weeks. they say they're preparing their own legal defense if necessary. they'll put out a report if there's anything bad it says about the president in any form. the bottom line is to be clear i think a lot of folks at home think this is going to show up on their door steps, we're all going to see this report in its entirety. that's not what's going to happen. it's supposed to be confidential. it's toup -- up to the attorney general, william barr. it says very little about

whether congress sees it and whether it's public. >> what it means to wrap up, he'll give it to the attorney general and who knows what, if anything, the public sees. we'll find out. >> thank you, peter. >> thank you. in the meantime, north carolina's board of elections has voted unanimously to hold a do-over in a hotly contested undecided congressional race amid allegations of ballot tampering. nbc's kristen welker is on capitol hill this morning. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. north carolina's ninth district is the last undecided congressional race from the 2018 midterm elections, and now that the republican candidate has acknowledged the results were tainted, voters will head back to the polls. >> so help me god. >> reporter: this morning a stunning turn of events in north carolina after the state board of elections voted thursday for a new election in the 9th district congressional race. >> all those in favor of the new election? i believe it's a unanimous vote. >> reporter: republican mark harris beat democrat dan mccready by 905 votes but instead of calling the race,

officials launched a dramatic months long investigation into allegations of absentee ballot tampering. >> i feel as though my vote didn't count and i have an option to be heard. >> reporter: democrats demanded a new election while harris fought to be certified the official winner, but in a remarkable moment, harris reversed course thursday after a four-day hearing. >> it's become clear to me that the public's confidence in the 9th district's seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted. >> reporter: harris denied knowing about any wrongdoing, but just today earlier harris's own son john, a federal prosecutor gave emotional testimony. >> i love my dad, and i love my mom. okay? >> reporter: revealing he warned his parents about the political operative they hired, leslie mccrae dowless, accused of running an operation that tampered with absentee ballots.

workers were forced to forge signatures, collect blank or incomplete ballots and even fill in votes. >> i think they made mistakes in this process, and they certainly did things differently than i would have done them. >> reporter: dan mccready hailing the decision as a great step forward for democracy in north carolina, meanwhile harris' son, calling on all politicians to do better. >> we have got to come up with a way to transcend our partisan politics and the exploitation of processes like this for political gain, and frankly when i'm coming out of this process, i'm just left thinking that we can all do a lot better than this. >> reporter: so the big question is what happens now. well, there will be a new primary and general election for the seat. it's not clear if mark harris' name is going to be on the ballot at this point, but dan mccready says he's definitely going to run again. savannah, hoda. >> kristin welker, thank you. >> craig joins the table now. another story getting a lot of attention. good morning, a federal

judge has ruled that one of president trump's cabinet members broke the law while serving as prosecutor in the case against a well-connected florida billionaire and alleged serial sex abuser. nbc justice correspondent pete williams has more on that this morning. pete, good morning. >> craig, good morning. lawyers for the victims say this is long overdue vindication for the women who once were young victims, but they say it took 11 years to get this court ruling because the government kept fighting the girls whose rights it was violating. the judge ruled when alexander acosta, now president trump's labor secretary was the u.s. attorney in miami, he and his prosecutors broke the law while negotiating a lenient deal with jeffrey epstein in 2007. he's the politically connected billionaire accused of sexually abusing more than 30 underaged girls at his palm beach mansion. interest in the case was revived by the miami herald which interviewed many of them. >> all jeffrey cared about was go find me more girls. his appetite was insatiable.

he couldn't stop. he wanted new, fresh, young faces every single day. >> i started going to him when i was like 14, 15. >> reporter: a federal judge in florida ruled late thursday that while the deal with epstein was in the works acosta deliberately failed to tell the victims or their lawyers. that meant they had no opportunity to object before the deal was done, one that allowed epstein to plead guilty on to state charges that brought him 13 months in jail, much of it spent outside on work release. in fact, the judge said acosta and his team misled the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility. the judge did not rule on whether the plea deal itself was improper and the ruling is not likely to have any effect on epstein who served his sentence long ago. but the judge is asking both sides in the case to suggest what should be done now as a result of the ruling. it's not clear this morning what that might be. >> acosta himself had no comment but the labor department said the plea deal with epstein

followed the rules and was reviewed by justice department leadership at the time. >> pete, thanks. we do have a lot more to get to this morning, after one of the wildest lead ups to the oscars ever in just two days, hollywood's biggest stars will hit the red carpet for the 91st academy awards. natalie she's already got her spot on the red carpet to give us a preview. hey, natalie. >> reporter: hey, guys, i'm primed and ready. the red carpet is rolled out. last minute preps underway. despite the controversies leading up to this year's broadcast, especially with that no oscar host this year for the first time in 30 years, producers are telling us it's going to be a spectacular show, starting with the opening number, queen, paying a special tribute to the late freddie mercury. this year the hollywood a-listers nominees you see on the red carpet will be working double duty. the show's producers are relying on 40 presenters to carry the show.

>> because there's no host, the oscar producers are really trying to ramp up the star quotient of the people who are actually going to be presenting the awards. >> reporter: actor and comedian kevin hart stepped down from the prestigious hosting gig in december and apologized for past comedy routines and tweets that were seen as homophobic. >> i'm just hoping that the apology is accepted. i'm not homophobic, i never have been. >> reporter: no host means no monologue, a move that may save time, which has become a hot button issue surrounding this year's broadcast. the academy initially declaring that four of the 24 oscar categories would be announced during commercial breaks, with those acceptance speeches airing later in the broadcast. >> there was a lot of outcry from huge actors and filmmakers in hollywood, everyone from alfonso cuaron and spike lee to brad pitt and george clooney said it was a mistake. >> reporter: the academy took back the controversial decision and now says all awards will be presented without edits in their traditional format, but still,

this is already a year of many firsts. blockbuster hit "black panther" is the first marvel movie and the first superhero film to be nominated for best picture. "roma" is the first netflix film to be nominated in that category, and could be the first foreign film ever to win for best picture. that is, of course, if it can beat top pick "green book." all eyes will be on glenn close heavily favored to secure the best actress oscar after setting the record for the most nominations without a win. spike lee could also have a big night with "blackkklansman," his first oscar nod for best director and best picture. as oscar sunday approaches, show producers who saw huge ratings dips last year may get lucky with this year's films drawing in the fans. >> the casual moviegoer and movie fan is going to be much more interested in the oscar's this year. >> reporter: now, guys, remember, four years ago, the controversy was about the lack

of diversity here with the oscarssowhite hashtag trending. four of the 20 actor nominees are actors of color. i's the same as last year. still, people are pointing out, no asians nominated despite the popularity of the movie, "crazy rich asians" which was not nominated this year. >> i see they already have the music going on the red carpet. did you hear that? >> what's your favorite? >> it's like a hallway at kmart or something with that music going. thank you, natalie. >> who do you guys want to see win? >> i want to see glenn close grab that oscar. come on. >> you were the biggest advocate of "the wife" i haven't seen it yet but you said it was awesome. >> loved it from the beginning. >> i love "black panther." >> that would be cool. >> we'll be tuning in. >> we're not oscar's voters. let's go over to dylan who's in for al. good morning. >> we've got more rain to talk about through the tennessee river valley, and we are seeing that heavy rain moving into northern mississippi as well where we have flash flood warnings in effect. the ground is totally saturated

from recent rain, and with more rain falling we could see more flash flooding. we also have the chance of some stronger storms, especially southwestern tennessee, northern mississippi, eastern arkansas tomorrow, strong winds and large hail a possibility, but also some tornados. this is all riding along this stationary front, and as we continue through the weekend, we are going to see more rain overspread that area. snow is going to fall across the upper midwest and heavy rain across the eastern third of the country. we could end up with three to four inches of rainfall, perhaps up to six inches of rain, especially in northern mississippi, which is why they are under a flash flood warning right now. that's a look at the weather across the country. we'll get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds. (danny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! can someone turn on the ac?! no? oh right... ...'cause there isn't any. here- (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. without you, we wouldn't have electricity.

our hobby would be going to bed early. (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. (danny) it's time to get yours! (vo) quickbooks. backing you. good friday morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. as the sun rises over the south bay, it is another cold start, headed over to willow glen, our temperatures will be quickly warming up, headed up to 40 degrees at 9:00, and then reaching into the low to mid-50s for the afternoon. our weather stays dry tomorrow as well but then by sunday, we will be tracking some rain, especially for the north bay, and there could be some soggy weather ahead for us next week, so you do want to make sure you enjoy this nice weather in the meantime, as our temperatures stay on the cool side. >> and that's your latest forecast. coming up, michael jackson's estate taking on hbo, i is

coming up our exclusive conversation with figure skater gracie gold on the personal reason she left the sport and her plans for a comeback. also, you've got to hear this, michael buble sharing the less sugar greek yogurt from chobani

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those demands. let's look at the weather picture for the weekend. >> we start out with some clear skies this morning. here is a live look in walnut creek, upper 30s around the bay area and it will be warming up going into the afternoon. some low 40s at 9:00, and then trending into the upper 50s by 3:00 today. so mostly sunny skies, upper 50s in the forecast, by tomorrow, a few more cloud cover, a little bit more cloud cover, with highs in the upper 50s, inland, and then as we head into sunday, more rain moving in, with the high of 59, and showers in the forecast throughout next week. let's head over to mike for an update on the commute. >> looking at the the san mateo bridge, moving smoothly and not so bad, the earlier issue getting to the toll plaza for west 92 looks like it cleared industrial. slow across 92 and farther south looking at 84, the dumbarton bridge, a mild build there, same thing for the south bay. look, it's friday. we have that lighter volume of traffic. over there, right above where it says livermore on the right we have a crash west 580 at el charo at the top of your screen,

east 780 as you get toward 680, we do have a crash around seventh that may be blocking one of your two lanes there. back to you >> we know you'll track that. more local news in a half hour.

3, 2, 1, 0. >> we are back, 7:30 with a new and successful rocket launch from spacex overnight. this mission carrying a satellite and an israeli lunar lander paving the way for that country to become just the fourth to land on the moon. >> pretty cool. back here on earth, here's today's headlines. jussie smollett is free this morning after posting a $100,000 bond. he's charged with a felony of making a false police report. the actor returned to the "empire" set on thursday after his release and reportedly apologized to the cast that has not been confirmed by nbc news,

however. chicago police say smollett was seeking publicity and was upset with his salary from "empire." they say he paid two men $3,500 to stage a hate crime against him. smollett's lawyers avowed to launch a vigorous defense, and he maintains his innocence. cardinals attending a vatican summit on preventing clergy sex abuse have called for a new culture of accountability in the catholic church. on the second day of pope francis's four-day gathering the focus of debate shifted to how church leaders must acknowledge the decades of their own cover-up that only worsened that crisis. cardinals say bishops and religious leaders who fail to protect children from predator priests should be held accountable. a frightening close call was caught on camera here in new york city. check this out, you can actually see a beam fall from an elevated subway track and crash through the windshield of a passing suv. thankfully the driver was not hurt. he was quite stunned and distraught by the whole thing.

afterwards transit workers removed several other pieces of wood from the tracks as a precaution. there is a new development ti tied to a documentary on music legend michael jackson and allegations of chaild abuse he faced throughout his life. >> that two-part documentary is called "leaving never lachland." it's set to debut on hbo on march 3rd and 4th, but today a new lawsuit by the jackson estate seeks to keep it off the air completely. >> reporter: a nightmare at neverland. >> a storybook, right? a fairy tale. >> michael jackson's estate suing hbo for damaging potentially exceeding $100 million over this documentary "leaving neverland" in which two men say the pop icon sexually abused them as boys. jackson consistently denied ever

abusing children. >> he told me if they ever found out what we were doing he and i would go to jail for the rest of our lives. >> reporter: the accusers weighed robson and james safechuck. >> i was 7 yeerars old, michael asked do you and the family want to come to neverland. >> robson says the tstar molestd him until age 14 while the two shared jackson's bed in neverland, california. >> hello, wade. today is your birthday, so c congratulations. i love you. >> reporter: safechuck says his molestation began after meeting the star on the set of a pepsi commercial. >> everybody wanted to be with michael. >> jackson filmed one of their sexual encounters and another time staged a mock wedding with the then 10-year-old actor. after the movie first premiered at sundance in january,

jackson's estate repeatedly asked hbo not to air the four-hour film, and on thursday filed suit against the network in an effort to keep them from running it. jackson's estate also slamming the accuser's credibility in a public statement saying the two men for many years testified under oath and told family, friends, and law enforcement that mr. jackson did nothing inappropriate to either of them. during a '90s civil suit brought by another boy who claimed abuse, both men did testify in support of jackson. but years later said they, too, were abused filing their own lawsuits that were dismissed due to statutes of limitation. throughout his career, jackson denied all accusations of sexual abuse and was acquitted of severa molestation charges before his death in 2009 at the age of 50. >> hbo is undaunted by the lawsuit saying in a statement that quote, despite the desperate lengths taken to

undermine the film, our plans remain unchanged. this will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves. >> did the men explain, like why they decided to come forward now? >> they did. they both said they had young sons who were the age they were when they allege that michael jackson abused them, and they say these memories and revisiting this in the film triggered those memories and caused them to reassess its effect on their own families. >> morgan, thank you. lets get a check of the weather once again. dylan's in for al. >> we had some wild weather in l.a. of all places yesterday, pasadena, california, picked up a half an inch of snowfall. we had the snow falling in some of the higher elevations. lots of pictures and videos coming in on social media, really not knowing what to do in that area when that much snow falls. in flag staff arizona they picked up 39 inches of snow yesterday. that is the most snow ever picked up in a day in history.

we are still seeing the snow falling through flag staff. phoenix is all rain right now. this area of low pressure will continue to move into the plains as we go into tonight. that will increase the chance of snow through the northern plains. as we go into the weekend, we will see a snowier side through eastern nebraska up through western iowa and into minnesota where we could end up with four to six inches of snow, but on the eastern side of this storm it is warm enough for all rain, but several inches of rain, three to six inches of rain, especially down through parts of tennessee and northern mississippi. this will affect the east coast on sunday with pockets of heavier rain, and we are also going to see the chance of strong winds. we could see wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour on saturday in oklahoma city. buffalo could see 18 hours of damaging winds on good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. after the chilly start with some upper 20s and 30s across the bay area, we're headed into the mid-50s today. we will gradually start to see

clouds rolling in throughout the day, as the storm system approaches areas to our north. by saturday, it's partly cloudy, with inland valleys reaching 57 degrees and 59 on sunday. there will be some spotty rain possible for the north bay, and then the rest of the bay area getting in on the rain chances by early next week. we'll be tracking that storm that could potentially bring in some heavy rain. latest forecast. i'm like, do i clear my throat or just power through it. >> power through. >> don't drink my water. >> dylan, thank you. just ahead, an exciting and eye opening new travel trend, why those popular dna test kits have more families hitting the road. plus, she was figure skating's golden girl, but privately gracie gold was struggling. this morning she shares her story with us including a plan for a comeback. and then more on the oscar's, a sneak peek with willie's sit-down with emily blunt. first though, fallout from the fall.

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♪ today's the daisy! . we're back, say good morning to carson. >> today on in-depth, sneaker gate, the shoe failed during college basketball's game of the year. >> zion williamson suffered a knee injury when his nike shoe fell apart. now nike is investigating and a fierce debate has ignited about williamson's future and college athletics as well. gabe gutierrez joins us from the campus there in north carolina. >> reporter: good morning. the good news is that it looks like zion williamson is going to be okay. the bad news for nike is that its shares dropped and the company is in full on damage control. nike executives flying here to meet officials. shoe gate, is renewing the

debate over whether college athletes, elite ones should be compensated. >> slipping and injured is zion williamson. >> reporter: this morning nike is on defense after a wardrobe malfunction for the ages. duke fans still stunned after a shocking sneaker split. >> what'd you think of sneaker gate? >> that's what i've been calling it. >> reporter: less than a minute into the high stakes matchup between rivals duke and north carolina, with former president obama looking on, zion williamson's nike shoe tore open. >> that's unbelievable. he broke his shoe with his own foot. >> reporter: the freshman super star viewed by many as the next lebron james limped off with a mild knee sprain. social media pounced. nike just blew it. >> shares of nike falling this morning as duke's freshman superstar blows out of his shoe. >> reporter: nike is wishing williamson a speedy recovery. saying we are working to

identify the issue but williamson's issue is reigniting the debate over the ncaa's one and done rule where young at la -- athletes are required to play a wreer year in college. some saying he shouldn't play for duke at all and go straight to the nba. >> knowing what i know now, college is bull [ bleep ], college basketball, the ncaa is bull [ bleep ]. my advice for him is do what's best for him and his family. >> college athletes aren't paid a salary, but their talents help rake in millions of dollars for the universities, tfr nv networ and companies like nike. >> there are some people that think there's exploitation going on because you have a lot of minority athletes and the schools are getting rich off of them and not paying a fair wage. >> reporter: what's next for zion williamson? he'll be on the bench for tomorrow's game against syracuse. he's doing some rehab. there's a big rematch next

month, and fans really hope he's back for that one. >> yeah, they do. the nba is considering a proposal that would lower the draft age from 19 to 18. it's got the backing of nba commissioner adam silver, but that would help rectify -- >> that's like high school kids, right? >> that would help rectify some of this. >> then you still have the one and done rule in the ncaa that they've got to do a year of college. >> i was at the nike store yesterday getting shoes for my son. i asked jokingly, are you guys hearing a lot about nike gate? he looked at me and laughed and said not allowed to talk about it. really, i was just kidding. >> the stock though, that's no joke. it is as you said one of the biggest stars in college basketball that it happened to. so big splash. still ahead, remembering peter tork, the tributes pouring in this morning for the beloved -their béarnaise sauce here is the best in town. [ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you do for fun? -not this. ♪

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♪ then i saw her face >> we're back with sad news for anybody who grew up and loved the monkees. >> tributes are pouring in for peter tork this morning, the '60 pop band cranked out hit after hit as well as a beloved tv show, and tork was its heart with impressive musical talents that cannot be overstated. >> reporter: peter tork was born to entertain. ♪ we're too busy singing >> audiences fell in love with

tork's wisecracks on the sitcom the monkees which hit air waves in 1966. >> what are we going to do? >> we can't take this lying down. >> oh, peter. >> tork helped guide the made for tv monkees led by davy jones to on screen stardom and chart topping hitting hits. after the group split in the early '70s tork launched a sll >> guys, you have to remember this is a made for tv band who sort of accidentally became world renowned and famous. they were meant to mimic on here on nbc was the success of the beatles, of those musicals, a hard day's night and "help." they had huge hit songs. >> and the songs are that catchy. >> i'm a believer written by neil diamond. >> what don't you know carson? >> you are full of facts. >> this is right in my wheel house. >> thanks, carson. just ahead, our exclusive conversation with u.s. figure skating champ gracie gold, the personal struggles that forced her out of skating, and how she's fighting now to return to the rink after your local news. the d hi, i'm bob harper, and i recently had a heart attack. it changed my life. but i'm a survivor. after my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. it's for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. brilinta is taken with a low-dose aspirin. no more than 100 milligrams as it affects how well brilinta works. brilinta helps keep platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. in a clinical study, brilinta worked better than plavix. brilinta reduced the chance of having another heart attack

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good friday morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. here is a live look outside in palo alto. beautiful sunshine. when you step out the door, you feel how cold it is. a lot of upper 30s throughout the next hour and we'll warm up, headed into the noon hour, 49 degrees and mid-50s later on today. as we check out our inland forecast, more dry weather today, and some of our valleys reaching up to 58 degrees. 57 tomorrow, with a few more clouds rolling by, and by sunday, a storm system to our north could bring in some rain for the north and temperatures getting milder into the start of next week. we could be in for some very soggy weather throughout tuesday, wednesday, as well as thursday, and san francisco will also be warming up, going from the low 50s today to 54 degrees on sunday, and then some low 60s by the middle of next week.

we'll be tracking that storm with more updates, let's head over to mike for a look at the commute. >> it's friday, we see lighter volume around the bay and holding steady for the south bay, no major issues. also for the east bay, mostly normal but look at the arrow westbound 580 around el charo a crash. that might be recovering now. also, unusual eastbound 780, you see the top of the screen, getting over from i-80 to 680 and the bay bridge, a crash blocks one lane, we had one crash, then two reported there, waiting for a second tow truck. back to you. happening now, class is about to get under way for most oakland schools but teachers once again are walking outside on the picket lines, day two of the oakland teacher's strike. the teachers wrapped up a news conference and plan to hold a rally at 11:30 this morning, following their negotiation session. you can link to the latest in our twitter feed. also just a short time ago, producers for fox's "empire" announced jussie smollett's character will not be seen in the last two episodes yet to air

this season. he is now facing charges tied with authorities believe was a false hate crime report. as you kari hall is tracking the next set of storms taking aim at the bay area. plus--left high and dry! our consumer team helps a bay area couple after a plumber leaves them without any running water. join us monday morning from

it's 8:00 on "today." back on set and pushing back. overnight jusse smollett returns to the set of "empire" and reportedly tells the cast to believe him, but police not buying it. this morning, how the actor's legal team is responding. plus gold and opportunity. gracie gold opens up about the reason why she stepped away from the ice. i read that you put papers over the mirrors so you wouldn't have to look at yourself. >> yeah.

at that point, even seeing myself or my body was nauseating. just ahead, our candid conversation on the pressure facing athletes, and her plans to return to the ring. burst been buble's bubble, how she wowed the crooner. ♪ at last today, friday, february 22nd, 2019. celebrating my big 18 in the big apple. >> good morning to my mom in oklahoma. i love you. >> it's my birthday trip from corpus kristi, texas. celebrating our anniversary.

>> hi to the "today" show from ohio. >> celebrating our sweet 16. hi, everybody. happy friday. what a great -- >> what is happening? >> maybe it's the almost spring break crowd. >> they heard you were back. >> i'm so happy to be back with you all. i'll try not to give my germs to anybody we also pressured the shoutouts. share yours with the # the #mytodayplaza. >> new orleans is really represented out there today. it looked like they emptied out one of the towns, right in that corner. >> hoda nation. the actor jussie smollett is

free after posting a bond. police say it was all a publicity stunt. miguel almaguer joins us with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. he was arrested yesterday after surrendered to police. trading a headshot for a mug shot. after he posted bond after seeing a judge for the first time, he was swarmed by press who were asking him several questions. he did not answer any. as you mentioned, police say he lied about a hate crime, now charged with a felony. after that hearing, he reportedly drove to the set of "empire" where he told cast and crew he did not commit the crime, though that's not been independently verified by nbc news. fox, who produces "empire" say they are evaluating the situation, while tbs says it's pulling an episode with smollett that was supposed to air later on this month. there's a lot of blow back across social media, as well as from police, saying their

investigation is just beginning. they have several subpoenas out and say they will fully prosecute this case in the days to come. >> thank you, miguel. the white house says 200 piecekeeping troops will remain in syria after the withdrawal of most u.s. military from the country. the president announced in february he would pull all troops, dollars we have won against isis. the bankrupt announcement surprised u.s. allies and senior military officials, and prompted the resignation of defense secretary mattis. an update on the case of an american-born woman who joined isis and now wants to come back to the u.s. richard engle spoke to the woman in her first interview after president trump vowed not to allow her back in the country. >> reporter: good morning, guys, this is a refugee camp in northeast syria, one of the places that isis family members are being brought. on this camp alone there's about

1600 isis wives and children, all of them foreigners, and yesterday on the "today" so secretary of state mike pompeo said she has no right to return to the united states, had no right to be issued a u.s. passport. this morning i showed her the secretary of state making those reports, and got her response. >> i read the papers, and i know in fact that i was a citizen, and when i tried finally for a pa passport, it was very easy, it came in ten days. i thought i didn't have a problem. i notice mea lawyer hopefully is working on it, and he he will win the case. >> reporter: do you want to go to the united states? >> i prefer america other than anywhere else. >> reporter: what do you think will happen to you? if you were allowed to go back. >> of course i'll be given jail time. >> reporter: her lawyer disputes the state department's claim

that she was issued a passport incorrectly. she says she desperately hopes to return to the u.s. she claims she was brainwashed online by isis and now wants to return. more than 250 people have been quarantined an a facility in aurora, after two people were infected with chickenpox and mumpses. they say they're giving vaccinations to all immigrants in the facilities. put on your dancing shoes, guys, the newest olympic competition could be, get ready, a sport that originated here, break dancing. >> what? >> organizer much the 2024 olympics are proposing break dancing for a medal event. remember that? it is not unprecedented. breaking was included in the 2018 youth olympic games in

buenos aires. also on the list, surfing, skateboarding. >> i might enjoy watching that. that's pretty cool. >> did you do the coffee grinder or something? >> is side clapping part o break dances? then no. >> would you kids like a boost? i'll give it to you. after a recent snowstorm, a good samaritan had no idea he was being caught on camera. sometimes those are the best. so this video kind of shows it. it went viral. an elderly woman begins to cross a snowy street. he was driving a snowplow, pulled over, parked it and started escorting her across. the driver had no idea he was being videotaped. he saw it on facebook. he spochbded this way -- there are angels out there, including the sweet woman i had the pleasure to cross the street. it's not easy, but simple. love god and everyone with your heart.

>> that's overflowing. still to come on this friday morning, one michael buble fan with a surprised performance decided to give her the mike. plus or conversation with grad gracie gold. >> i was america's sweetheart, the golden girl. i was afraid to be real with my struggles, because then i wouldn't be as perfect as the media saw me. >> gracigracie's battle to get on the ice, and her dreams for the future. but first, these messages. ♪

♪ congrats, kim! you got your own car, with your own insurance. no more driving that old hand-me-down. did you trade it in? my parents handed it down to my little brother. you ready? yeah... surprise! no. not beige betty! you guys can't do this to me, seriously?! my car is like a rite of passage. how do you expect me to drive this?! just turn the key... and yeah, it's just uh... some of this... ...it's automatic... ...dual cupholders. go with the one that's here to help life go right. state farm. oats and oat bran have a soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which can help lower cholesterol as part of a heart-healthy diet. now it's in new quaker oat beverage, a super-smooth dairy alternative.

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♪ ♪ back now, 8:11 on this friday morning with savannah's exclusive and quite candid conversation with two-time u.s. women's figure skating champion

gracie gold. >> we all remember her from the olympics. she appeared to have everything going for her, but right before the 2018 pyeongchang olympics, gracie announced she was stepping away from skating to deal with personal issues. well, recently, she revealed that included battles with depression and an eating disorder. we sat down with gracie to talk about her struggles and her fight to return to the sport she loves. heading into the 2014 sochi olympics, gracie gold was figure skating's golden girl, heralded for her confidence, poise, and grace kelly good looks. you came back and you were a sensation. you were a golden girl. what was that time like for you? >> it was like -- i mean, it was incredible, but i also remember feeling kind of like a fraud in a way. like, i was america's sweetheart or i was the golden girl, and i just, i was afraid to be real with my struggles because then i wouldn't be, like as perfect as

the media saw me. >> just a teenager at the time, gracie's struggles included a burgeoning eating disorder, which she says started after a coach made an off-handed comment about her weight. what did the coach say? >> he was like, look at your butt. i just remember, like i counted my calories that day, and then it just became the game of like, how low can you get it, of like how low can you get the calories? and it just snowballed from there. >> and so began a cycle of bingeing and restricting her food and all of the shame that came along with it. >> no one needs to eat two pizzas in a sitting, right? like, that's, come on, gracie, that was weird. but, like, then throughout the week, i'd be like, you can have three coffees and two apples and also, like, hey, update, that's not right either. >> when you hear that, i mean, that's somebody who's really struggling. >> it was one of those things where, like, i'll deal with it, like, after i'm done skating. >> did anyone know? >> there were a couple people

that knew. >> you were getting positive feedback, too, sometimes, weren't you? >> yeah. and it was just kind of like, in skating culture, it's not like a unique thing to me, so i would text someone, like oh, like i had a tomato. and they'd be like, wow, that's so great, like i had a can of potatoes. and then it just got more and more extreme until it was just like unbearable. >> her breaking point came after the 2016 figure skating world championships. gracie was expected to perhaps win it all. she came in fourth. what was so crushing about that experience? >> it was everything. it was just one of those things, like i couldn't be the best in the world because i could not hack the world championships. >> gracie says she now wishes she had taken time off from skating right then. instead, she moved to detroit to continue to train, but she could barely get out of bed. i read that you put papers over the mirrors so you wouldn't have to look at yourself.

>> yeah, because at that point, i was like, even seeing myself, or like my body, was, like, useating. so in my head, i was like, oh, well, don't look at yourself. >> by the time gracie showed up at a team usa summer camp in 2017, she was severely depressed and in a dangerous place. >> i remember feeling like, they don't need me that because, like, i'm just like this washed-up loser, i'm toxic, they can see how bad it is and then they can kick me off the team and then i can go about my sad life. i wasn't actively suicidal, but i definitely was at a point where, like, i didn't see myself existing much longer. like, probably, honestly, i was going to live until, like my money ran out. >> camp staff persuaded gracie to get help and she soon entered help for eating disorders in arizona. was it scary or healing? >> it was healing in a way because i just needed time apart from skating, because i blamed

skating for a long time. but, like, it wasn't skating's fault. it didn't ruin my life. like, i allowed my behavior while i was skating to ruin my own life. >> after seeking treatment, self-reflection, and time off from the sport, gracie says she's now ready to return to the rink. >> i mean, i still struggle with those feelings. like, treatment and therapy isn't like this magic wand where it's just like fixed. like, you just want to start having more good days than bad days. >> do you still have big skating dreams? >> the beijing games in 2022 would be, like, the ultimate dream. and if i could win, like a world medal -- winning a world medal would almost be more important to me than going to another olympics. >> does it feel good to dream again, to dream about the future? >> yeah, i actually go out in the world like freely with, like, some importance and let's see if we can do something with our life today, let's see if we can get this back on track. >> you can see gracie is really honest and she's speaking out

because she wants others to help face their own issues and get help. she hopes that this starts a conversation. but she -- i was so struck by -- well, first of all, she's really, really funny, and you didn't get to see it in that piece, but she's so sassy. she's such a huge personality. you can see where that drive comes from. you know why she was a champion, because she drives herself so hard, and i think that's also the flip side of that is what drove her into her sadness and some of those behaviors. >> so revealing. >> yeah, and i think when you look at someone like her from the cheap seats, you think, wow, she's got it all. and just the fact that we don't know how many people are walking around just like gracie going through stuff -- >> can you imagine she's at the olympics eating like one taue and two cups of coffee and putting in these incredible pems, but of course that's not sustainable, and it wasn't for her. but she's courageous. >> but she knows that now and it's a step in the right direction. she's so self-reflective. a lot of people go, i don't know what happened in that period. she's all too aware. is she training again? >> yes, she's on the rink and

has goals but keeps it in perspective. she's also training little kids. she's a coach. >> oh! >> that's fantastic. >> yes. >> thank you for that sit-down. >> we're going to switch gears now and get a check of weather from miss dylan. >> announcer: today's weather is brought to you by blue buffalo. you love your pets like family, so feed them like family with blue. and the colder temperatures continue out west. obviously, cold enough for snow in the southwest and parts of california, near l.a., too. on the flip side of that, it is going to be a mild weekend down south. birmingham up to 71 today. it's 11 degrees above average. gainesville 85 degrees. then on saturday, warmer air is going to move into areas like nashville and down through new orleans, up into chicago. so, that's why this warmer air is setting the stage for the next storm system moving through, and it will fall in the form of rain. as we go into sunday, temperatures still well above average, but boston drops back down to freezing by tuesday. chicago chilly on monday with a high of only 24 degrees. we're up to 30 on tuesday.

>> good morning. i'm meteorologist carry hal. here's a live look outside. in campbell, in the low 50s by noon and reaching up to 55 degrees. we're cooler than normal. as we go into the day tomorrow, another system approaches and brings in more clouds. highs for the inland valleys reaching 57 and 59 degrees on sunday. that's also when we'll see the rain returning to the north bay with the rest of the bay area seeing the rain early next week as our temperatures actually warm up. by thursday, we're up to 67. >> and that's your latest forecast. thank you. it's our favorite time of the day. it's pop start time. >> is it though? you lie like a rug. but thanks. hard to believe we are gearing up for another great season of "the voice." blake, adam, kelly they're all returning. there's a new kid on the block, his name is john legend: as you'll see in this promo, he's

ready to go. >> john, hurry up, you're going to be late for your first day on "the voice". >> how do i look? >> you look amazing. are you nervous? >> a little bit. >> okay, i packed you a few things. this is a book of country sayings so you know what blake is saying. i have your button so you can practice on the bus. ear plugs because kelly talks a lot. and some tattoos so you can look cool. >> oh, i thought i was cool. >> not to adam. >> bus is here. come on, hurry, you're going to be late. have so mup fun. oh, perfect. good luck. i love you so much. your lunch. >> thank you. >> bye. >> bye, baby. >> oh, my baby boy. >> come on, john. >> john, come on. >> season 16. >> i'm excited. >> it's going to be so fun. >> it's going to be good. >> thanks. >> all right. come on, boys. >> today is going to be a good day. >> it's going to be swell. i can feel it. >> hey, john, come on, you don't want to be late. >> all right. >> season 16, i'm going to win, i'm ready. >> come on, john.

>> hey, john, you got this. it premiers on monday february 25th at 8:00 p.m. here on nbc. >> carson. the promo was so cute. >> that's a great promo. michael buble was blown away by a fan's performance. on wednesday night he was performing in front of thousands at madison square garden. during the show he asked the crowd if anybody enjoys singing in the shower. one fan volunteered her sister, so buble asked erin to come on stage, handed her a mic, and wanted her to perform her shower song. here's how it went down. ♪ at last my love has come along ♪ ♪ my lonely days are over, and

life is like a song ♪ >> that is the etta james classic "at last." you can see buble's reaction. the audience was completely blown away. buble sworn to the crowd that was not set up. it was a total surprise. >> i think michael and erin should come on the "today" show and do a duet of that together. >> and the voice. >> that would be fun. >> for sure. >> carson, make that happen. can you? >> i'm working on that. jimmy fallon is going to be giving a behind the scenes look at the "tonight show." he took to instagram to announce that on monday. viewers can get a look at what really happens during the show, and he shared a preview of the upcoming show featuring guest tina fey. >> here's tina fey, my yarou doll of and amy polar's directorial debut "wine country"

on netflix in may, check this out. >> hey, do you mind telling me what the hell your problem is? >> you know what you did. >> maybe if you weren't popping so many pills. >> popping pills, what are you talking about? let's just not talk for the rest of the clip. >> fine by me. fine by me too. [ laughter ] >> that's all too real. it looks like it's not so pretty behind the scenes after all. looking forward to watching that. that's "the tonight show" behind the scenes look. big monday on nbc, 11:35 p.m. finally, we'll take a sneak peek at willie's sunday sit-down. this week it's emily blunt, and they talked about filling famous shoes on a movie up for a few oscars on sunday night, "mary poppins returns" ♪ >> what kind of an honor was it to play that part inherited from julie andrews 54 years ago?

>> it's such an honor. she's so iconic, and the character is so iconic. i was daunted to sort of take it on, and i'd seen it as a child, so it was sort of emblazoned into my memory. but i just needed to do my interpretation of it. all new songs, thank god because i don't sing like julie andrews and big dance numbers and a huge build old movie. it's absolutely beautiful, so nostalg nostalgic. >> you can listen to their entire unedited conversation for free on apple podcasts or wherever you get yours. >> got time for a click? >> i think we do have some time. being a toddler this can be tough work, but little collide takes exhaustion to a whole new level. here's the recent car ride. clyde was caught sleeping in the backseat, that's a chicken nugget hanging out of his mouth. he couldn't bring himself to finish that last bite.

this kid is totally out. his dad starts yelling his name and turns on the music, but clyde is fast asleep. >> clyde sleeps hard. >> what are we bleeping out there? >> that's what i'm dying to know. >> there were a couple of swear words, i think. i think the nugget's big enough it's not a choking hazard. >> i was worried for a second there s there. >> for a kid, that's a heck of a time to fall asleep. >> exactly. i know, especially because the nuggets are the best part. carson, thank you. still ahead, we're going to reveal allure's picks for this year's must try beauty trends. >> i'm ready. >> let's do it. >> we're going to put the steal in stealsi )m ...

it is day 2 of the oakland teachers strike. good morning. it is 8:26. i'm cara clapper. it is day two of the oakland teachers strike. you're looking at video of teachers picketing this morning outside oakland tech. about an hour ago, teachers called a news conference announcing plans for a midday rally. some 3,000 teachers walked off the job yesterday. the strike is affecting about 35,000 students. classes are still being held with substitute teachers. most classrooms yesterday were pretty empty. teachers are demanding a 12% pay raise over three years. the district says the demands can't possibly be met. let's turn it over to mike inowe i for a look at the traffic. >> if you do take eastbound 780

heading towards the benicia bridge, it's still a problem. one lane is blocked waiting for a tow truck to get on scene. a 2 instead of 1. that's part of the issue. contra costa coming towards the bay bridge, moving nicely. alameda county, from 580, 880, slow. typical areas lighter because it's friday. the south bay, we've seen a lot of activity. slowing northbound coming up north of the airport. you see the runways here. but the southbound side, a series of three crashes. two of them to the shoulder. the last one approaching lawrence expressway, still maybe blocking one lane. >> mike, all that green looks good though. i'll have another local news update for you in a half hour. hope to see you then. you.

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♪ 8:30 now on a friday morning, it is february the 22nd. we have an insane crowd out here today. >> it's a perfect friday crowd. >> check it out. you know what i was thinking? i was thinking we had such a great crowd, i was thinking it feels almost like mardi gras.

i was thinking it feels almost like mardi gras! you guys, check out this group. this is the crew from. >> the bayou! >> are you all ready for mardi gras? >> yes. >> you all just came together. what are you guys going to do in new york this weekend? >> everything. we have a huge agenda. >> what you got? >> we're going to hit the subways today, brooklyn, mean girls play. >> where are you guys from? >> new orleans. >> new orleans. >> happy mardi gras, who dat, love you all. >> come on. >> hoda nation. >> that is new orleans. >> there are a lot better things to do than hit the subway. we're going to give you some suggestions. >> thank you. coming up here just ahead on a friday morning, the hottest new travel trend sparked by all of those dna kits. keir simmons has the story including one family's memorable and very meaningful trip of a

lifetime. >> it looks really cool. then our friends at allure are revealing their picks for this year's best beauty products covering your hair, lotions, concealers. >> have to get a pen for that segment. coming up this weekend, it's here, if you want to treat your family to a fun recipe, we've got the perfect one for you. we're talking cinnamon spiced french toast, and wait for it, we fry it. >> yes, we do. on the third hour of "today," it's about to get a little bit competitive out here when we face off on the american ninja warrior junior. >> i was wondering what that was up for. >> remember when karen almost killed me? >> you're having a little post traumatic, savannah. >> juniors. >> we're not doing that, there's a wall here and i guess we're supposed to climb it. >> just know that i almost died one time on a segment like that. >> look at that. i guess we have to run up it? i don't really know. >> you do. it's not easy. >> guys, don't forget to

download our new ask and improved "today" show app. check out digital video, how good is it hoda? >> it's amazing. it's the best app ever. text 66866, text today to that number. >> it's absolutely amazing. >> dilly dilly, you got a check of the weather? >> a pretty wet weekend for the eastern third of the country, especially as we go into tomorrow. this storm system is going to bring some severe storms possibly to western kentucky, western tennessee through northern mississippi. flooding is a possibility because the ground is totally saturated and we're looking at another three to four inches of rain. snow is going to fall through the eastern plains and upper midwest, then very, very windy back behind this system on sunday. for areas like buffalo winds could gust 65 to 75 miles per hour. rainy up and down the east coast, snowy through east maine and the northern rockies we'll see another storm system make its way onshore. heavy snow

good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall, live look outside with the sunshine over walnut creek and some chilly temperatures. going through this morning, it will feel milder with upper 40s by 10:00. heading into the upper 50s today with lighter winds compared to yesterday. by tomorrow, we'll see a few more clouds moving in. highs in the upper 50s inland and a chance of rain mainly across the north bay. going into next week, more widespread rain moves in as our temperatures warm up. we'll be in the upper 60s with scattered showers throughout next thursday. urning -- how old are you turning? >> 40. >> and you've got ten people here to celebrate? >> yes. >> all right, that's going tbeo a party here this weekend. >> craig. thank you. are you planning your summer getaways? if you are, there's a new travel trend that could make your trip extra special. it's all tied to those wildly popular dn ashs tea test kits a senior international correspondent keir simmons is checking it out. >> reporter: good morning,

imagine if your dna could connect you with an incredible place like this. that's what's happening now. people are using cutting edge technology to trace their family histories. ♪ >> reporter: welcome to naples, naples, florida. here steve and his 82-year-old dad are discovering their italian dna. >> the dna test, and it shows that i'm 39% italian sicilian here. >> together they are about to make the trip of a lifetime. to the ancient mediterranean island of sicily in search of their ancestors. >> i really don't think you really know who you are unless you know where you came from. >> your dna tells a story. >> reporter: dna tests are now widely available from companies like ancestry, 23 and me, they tell people broadly where they're from, but now travel company go ahead and ancestry offer unique group dna tours to

discover more. >> people who are getting a dna kit want to go and feel a part of that heritage and learn the stories of their past to bring back to their families. >> reporter: first stop, the fishing village, for hundreds of years the balestreri family made their living from the sea. >> the economy went back during the 1870s. >> reporter: expert genealogist george ott who travels with the group has researched the family history. >> this is the church, your ancestors. >> taking steve and his dad to the places where generations were born. >> think how many of our relatives have been bap tuesdti right here. >> grew up, this is where they lived. this is the little street they played on. >> reporter: and died. >> it's so good to see my aunt rosemary here. >> reporter: in a cafe there's a chance to grab an espresso. >> they're from milwaukee. >> reporter: before the tour continues to the records' office

where the genealogists have uncovered an important document. >> these are the signature of your grandfather. >> that's amazing. just unbelievable. it's like this was yesterday. >> reporter: it was steve's great grandfather, salvatore who was the first to make it to america, but his wife did not. >> and they're brought over to america, maria died. they gave up a lot. she gave up her life. >> reporter: despite that tragic start to his new life, s a, he determined to make it in america. >> my great grandfather would go through the streets yelling tomatoes, cantaloupes or whatever. >> reporter: and from that humble grocery cart grew today's hugely successful family business. >> can you still spot a good orange? >> i can do anything. >> reporter: time for lunch, but this famous fish restaurant is

special. >> francesca and his brother are balestrer balestreris, too, today the families meet for the first time. francesco preparing a feast in their honor with other members of the clan, old and young. the family tree. >> what it comes down to is, okay, everybody's related after so many years. >> you're a very friendly group. >> over 10 million people who have taken an ancestry dna test, so as more people take them in more and more countries, it's going to be exciting to be able to connect to places and people in those countries that wasn't possible before. >> i wish i was sicilian. >> reporter: and after that typically long sicilian lunch, there's just time for one last stop and two houses just a few yards apart. >> some of your relatives lived in this house, and some of your

relatives lived in the house there. >> yeah. >> uh-huh. did they get along? >> of course. they married. >> oh, they got married. >> yeah. >> oh, okay. >> reporter: so many memories to take home, bonds once broken now a family found across the ocean. so the message is go out there and find out about your history before, honestly, it's too late, and now you have dna to help you. guys. >> keir simmons. >> i'm jealous. >> i'm in. >> i want to do that trip. >> i think about uncle al when he went to senegal, so beautiful. >> so moving. >> as more people take these tests, one of the good things i think is we're all going to find out that we're a lot more connected than we realize. >> yeah. >> we might be could you describe -- cousins. >> i think we are. >> at least in our soul at a minimum. >> let's travel and find out. allure's new list of must

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we are back with today's style and innovative beauty buys. st store shelves are constantly being stocked. >> this year it does not disappoint, from customizable face creams to self-setting concealer, 2019 is the year of better than ever beauty products. which ones are worth buying, allure's editor in chief is here. you boiled it all down to this one beautiful table of products that you have. >> we boiled it all down, and i'm so excited about some of these things. i don't know about you but i have really dry skin, and especially in the winter time it gets even drier. a lot of creams that say they restore the skin's barrier are heavy and greasy feeling which causes a host of other problems. i love this first aid beauty cream. you can stick your finger in there. >> is this a night moisturizer or day? >> this is used for night and

day. it's almost like a whipped cream. it's like a mousse. it's got great ingredients that help restore the skin's barrier. >> how much? >> this is only $30. great product. another skin care product we're looi loving is clinique. personalized beauty is a huge trend right now. this is a called clinique id. you choose one of three bases. these are meant for different skin types. >> okay. then you choose a colored cartridge at the counter, and these help to sort of super charge your skin care. basically each of these colors are for a different skin care concern. once you pop that in, this one that we have here with the white is for an uneven skin tone. >> oh. >> you then have a personalized skin care product it mixes the two together, that's what it's doing? >> yeah. >> interesting. >> very cool. >> so excited about these. these are my absolute favorite. these are the pantene rescue

shots. they come in these little single servings, and in the shower when you have damp hair, run it from the mid lengths to the end, once you rinse it out your hair is glossy and beautiful. >> once a day or every week? >> i've been doing it once a week. treat it as a deep conditioner. they were a best seller in brazil before they were even available here. >> we need it. our hair is fried. >> and the price is right. >> 5 bucks for three of those. mascara, sometimes is really hard to get off. so maybelline has created this new snapscara which is a wax free formula that comes off with warm water. the formula is really great. it colors, it adds length without making it clump pi. >> concealer, this is the makeup forever self-setting concealer. for a lot of us who wear makeup every day, a lot of times we have to set it with powder. it can settle into lines and fine lines. the self-setting one works and

lasts all day without any powder. >> cool. in your bag. >> this is the beauty blender redo mist, basically once you have your makeup on in the late afternoon, it starts to feel like it's falling off. this will actually revive your makeup and make your skin look dewy again. >> that's 32 bucks? >> that is 32 bucks. love these masks. these are the i do care masks. they look so cute like little ice creams. >> adorable. >> they have ingredients like matcha ask dairy in them. leave it on for five or ten minutes, rinse it off, and then your skin is wonderful. >> that's like a once a weeker? >> i would say on a weekend, a saturday, sunday would be the masking time. vitamin c serum, if you're not using a serum currently, you should be. vitamin c is one of those ingredients that just kind of does it all. this is the tatcha vitamin. it's $88. i will say a little goes a long way, and it really does work. >> especially on my hand right now. here take some.

i overdid it. >> don't touch me i'm full of germs. enjoy your stomach bug. [ laughter ] >> all right, great. thank you. >> you put this on and then you put your moisturizer or whatever. >> yes. >> cool. >> thank you. >> for more of allure's top picks, head to today.com/shop. just ahead, the recipe for a decadent weekend breakfast. the whole family is going to enjoy this one, but first

oh, it's so good. this morning on today food, we're cooking with thomas mckenna, the executive chef at the public hotel here in new york. back when he was 29 years old, he took on the task of heading up the kitchen of the world renowned restaurant tour. today he's 31 and the mind behind some of these beautiful dishes you are seeing here today. good morning, hoda, myself, the gang, we're excited. it looks like brunch is about to happen. >> savannah and craig are

already polishing it off. >> so good. >> you're supposed to wait. french toast is a staple but you have your own special twist on it? >> we love to deep fry our french toast. it creates like this creme brulee inside but like encrusted in like this crusty, toasty bread. >> you're talking about deep frying it in a vat of like oil? >> exactly. >> that's what we were hoping for. is the first part of the french toast the same? >> we have to soak it first. it's really important to take your eggs, beat them up. i'll pour this in here, get the sugar. >> chef, just for the folks at home, the overall ingredients that you need for this, we have the ingredients, they're pretty staples, right? >> yeah, it's pretty much super easy, the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, the eggs. >> is this heavy cream or half and half? >> this is half and half. >> and the brioche is the key. >> look at this. powdered sugar, what's that, a little vanilla? >> a little vanilla. we like to soak it overnight. >> no kidding? >> the day before if you're prepared. if you're not prepared, do it

for an hour or two. >> should i pour this on top of that? >> i didn't stir it all the way. >> doesn't matter. that's what's good. >> you cover it all the way? >> all the way. you really want it to soak in. you're going o'mato make sure yo a flip here. >> imagine the benefit of the soak overnight. >> does it get all soggy? >> that's what this step is for. i got excited. you want to start your apples. you really want them to be nice and -- >> what kind of apples are those? >> these are granny smith. they're really tart, so it's really a nice contrast with the sweet french toast. >> all right. >> you just kind of let those hang out there. >> these are the soaked pieces of bread right here. >> these are soaked overnight, we drained them a little bit to get rid of excess moisture. it's complete moist through. >> i want it, so good. >> is that powdered sugar? >> no, we're not that crazy. this is corn starch. this will create like the really

crustiness. >> hoda, i was thinking the same thing. >> she's like is that laundry detergent? >>. [ laughter ] >> exactly. >> is that tide? >> tap off any excess. and we have the dutch oven. >> oil at 375. >> what kind of oil is that? >> you can use kind of whatever. i like grape seed works out great, it has a high smoking temp and is very clean. >> okay. is that motor oil? >> you also want to weigh it down to let it go. >> look at that. >> probably about six minutes. >> about six minutes. >> okay. all right. and when it comes out, it looks like that? >> on a paper towel to get rid of any excess oil, douse it with some cinnamon and sugar. >> oh, my gosh, this is crazy. >> and then you're going to really just -- >> it's the crunch that -- >> it's so good. definitely. >> as if french toast needed to be elevated. >> this is hot, too. >> and how it is noting soggy. >> it looks dense.

you don't even need a knife. >> it's not overly sugared. >> and the bacon, look at this. >> apples. >> get in there. get in there. >> get in there, who dat, who dat. come on. >> get it. >> i'll do the tag. we got to go, chef, thank you so much. if you missed anything, head to today.com/food for the recipe. we're back in a moment. this is unbelievable. >> thank you. >> and this is "today" on what's better than having fast, reliable wifi with coverage throughout your home? how about having internet that can help you save on wireless phone service? xfinity gives you the fastest speeds for all your devices. plus, now that xfinity mobile is included, you can switch your wireless carrier and save hundreds of dollars a year.

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welcome back on this friday morning, so it's national engineering week, and because of it, nbc news learned the division of education division of nbc news has launched a special series. >> that's right. unfortunately research shows many girls lose interest in math and science starting in middle school. you're going to meet some young women hoping to change that by inspiring girls to pursue careers in engineering. take a look. >> our vision is to transform people's lives. >> i want to be doing things that make an impact.

>> it's so much fun to try and make the world a better place. >> you can find out more about this at nbclearn.com. sounds great. >> i love that. >> good morning, guys. >> hi sheinelle. >> did you have a good weekend? >> no rest for the weary, meghan markle is getting ready for another big trip. now she's heading to morocco with prince harry. you know what? we'll be there live. >> you didn't get that report. >> keir simmons will be there. >> it was 75 grand a night, they only used it for a shower where the party was. >> be sure and check out today.com/allday. >> to get ready for sunday's oscars you can check out our conversations with some of the nominees. it's national margarita day, whether you take them frozen or on the rocks we know where to find the best deals. that and more including our all new today app, today.com/allday. >> we're back in a few minutes with even more on the third

hour. >> even more. >> even more. all day. >> the fourth hour with you and kath. >> collin quinn. >> we're drinking margaritas at 10:00. >> high five, someone's leaving you hanging there. >> never. >> have a great weekend. we'll see you back here on monday hopefully. i )m - -... a live look outside oakland )s havenscourt good morning. it's 8:56. i'm kyra clapper. a live look at a middle school where teachers are picketing again. they're taking a little break. this is the second day of oakland teachers strike. classes are in session this morning. they're being staffed by substitute teachers. we did hear most classrooms yesterday were empty. some 3,000 teachers walked

off the job yesterday. they're demanding a 12% pay raise over three years. the district says it's stretched thin already and the demands cannot possibly be met. the strike is affecting some 35,000 students. happening now, teachers organized a rally for 11:30 this morning. our pete suratos is monitoring the situation and listening for breakthrough in contract talks. we'll have the latest in the midday newscast. we're posting updates as we get them to our twitter feed. >> in other news, producers for empire suggest that jussie smollett's character won't be a part of the remaining shows. tied to a staged attack. the show's producers did not indicate what they plan to do with his character for the long-term. we'll have another local weather update for you in an hour. we hope to see you then. see you at 11:00 for our newscast. as you start your work

kari hall is tracking the next set of storms taking aim at the bay area. the rain threat is moving n in. left high and dry. our consumer team helps the bay area. left them without running water. join us monday morning, 4:30 to 7:00 a.m.

from nbc news, this is "today" live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and a good friday morning, everyone. craig melvin here. we've got dylan dreyer, sheinelle jones. al's been off all week. >> we've been texting him all week. he's here somewhere. >> he feels left o sometimes. >> you might as well just come to work. >> mr. roker we'll see you back here on monday. it seems like every morning there's a new twist in this jussie smollett story. three weeks ago the actor told chicago police he was the victim of a hate crime, but now he's accused of making it all up. well, smollett made bail yesterday, and there are r